


Come What May

by bayoublackjack



Series: Stars & Stripes Forever [24]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Crossover Pairings, Established Relationship, F/M, Long-Term Relationship(s), POV Steve Rogers, Plans For The Future, Pregnancy Scares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 22:04:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5222651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected situation forces Steve and Martha to think about their future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come What May

It was a few days after their failed mission in Austria that Steve first sensed that something was wrong.  He hadn’t seen Martha since the impromptu burger eating contest that took place upon their return to Manhattan with the others.

“Do you want me to give you a ride home?” he asked, while leaning against his motorcycle outside of the diner.

“Thanks, love, but I think a ride on a motorcycle is the last thing I need right now.”  She rubbed her stomach.  “I probably shouldn’t have eaten so much.  I’m still feeling a bit out of sorts.”

Steve frowned.  “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No.”

“Would you admit it if you did?”

Martha laughed softly.  “Probably not, but in my defense doctors are notoriously bad patients.”

“You’re kinda a hypocrite, you know that right?” he asked with a ghost of a smile.

Martha rolled her eyes playfully.  “I thought I told you that I never get ill.”

“Martha…”

“I’m fine!”

“Maybe we should let a doctor be the judge of that.”

“I  _am_ a doctor!” Martha shot back.  “So technically, self-diagnosis, in my case, is just as good as consulting a physician,” she reasoned.

Steve sighed softly.  “Please humor me,” he requested.  “Get yourself checked out.”

Martha let out a quiet sigh of her own.  “Fine,” she conceded.  “If I don’t feel better in the next day or so…I will go and get myself checked.  Alright?”

Steve gave a short nod and pulled her into a tight embrace.  “Get some rest.  I’ll call you when I get home.”

Martha rose on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips.  “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Steve replied.

And that was the last he saw her until he received a call from her a few days later asking him to come over.  The moment he heard her voice, Steve knew something was amiss.  He asked what was going on, but Martha insisted that it wasn’t something they could discuss over the phone.  So as soon as they hung up, he climbed onto his motorcycle and rode straight over to her place.

“Hi,” Martha said in a small voice when she let him in.  Normally, she would greet him a hug and a kiss or, at the very least, a warm smile.  At the moment, she didn’t seem like she couldn’t even bare look at him.

Steve stepped inside and Martha closed the door behind him then leaned against it.  “Martha, what’s going on?  I haven’t seen you in days.  You’ve been preoccupied on the phone.  And now that I see you…”  Physically, nothing appeared to be wrong and she didn’t seem as if she was sick.  And yet, when he took a closer look, there was something in her eyes.  Fear, maybe?  She was biting her bottom lip as she had a tendency to do whenever she was nervous.  Seeing her that way without knowing the reason caused his own nerves to fray a bit as well.  “Talk to me,” he begged.  “Tell me what’s happening.”  He reached for her, but she stepped around him.

Martha kept her back to him as she moved further into her apartment.  Steve followed at a distance.  “I’ve been thinking about what you said before,” she began to say as she shuffled forward at a snail’s pace.  “That people don’t vomit when they’re fine.  I figured it was just disorientation, but then…I was ill again when I go home.  Which of course could have been due to the poor decision eat so much greasy food, but as a doctor I would be remiss if I hadn’t considered  _all_ the possibilities.”  She paused suddenly.  “One possibility in particular.”

“What possibility is that?” Steve asked.

Martha turned to face him.  “Steve…I’m late.”

“Late?”  Steve wasn’t sure how long the word had hung in the air between them before he finally found his voice again.  “I don’t suppose that phrase has taken on new meaning over the years.”

Martha shook her head looked down at her hands while wringing them silently.  “Everything has been so chaotic lately that I’ve barely time to remember to breath, but once I took a moment to sit still and pay attention to what’s been happening and what  _hasn’t_ been happening…”

Steve closed the space between them and took her hands into his.  “I’m sorry,” he said for lack of a better reaction.  He wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of fatherhood, but their current situation wasn’t ideal and Martha seemed less than pleased by the sudden turn of events.  “I thought we…I thought  _I_ was being more careful.”

“It was your birthday,” Martha said almost bitterly.  “It had to have been.  I mean the timing fits.  And then with the fireworks and that blooming edible body paint.”  She exhaled sharply.  “We got caught up in the heat of the moment.  Neither of us thought to…”  She closed her eyes and shook her head again.  “How could I have been so careless?  I’m a bloody physician for Christ’s sakes!”

She clenched her hands into fists and Steve tightened his grip on them.  “Martha,” he said in a gentle, consoling voice.  “I promise to do right by you.  We can get married and…”

Martha’s eyes flew open.  “Married?”  She scoffed loudly.  “It’s not the bloody forties anymore, Cap.  I’m not going to force you down the aisle over a hypothetical baby.”

“I wouldn’t need to be forced.”

“And I don’t need a ring,” she said firmly.

“Of course not.”  Steve stared down at their hands.  He caressed the backs of hers with his thumbs and she relaxed her fists.  Truthfully, he’d rather pull her into his arms and hold her, but she seemed resistant and holding her hands was better than nothing.  “It wouldn’t be so bad though,” he said after a thoughtful silence.  “A little boy or girl with my eyes and your smile.”

As if on cue, Martha’s smile shyly appeared.  “Genetically speaking, they’d have my eyes.”

“Genetically speaking, they would be far better off taking after you rather than me,” Steve commented.

Before the war, the only dates he got were the pity ones that Bucky had orchestrated.  So the thought of fathering children was never a factor back then.  It was only after the serum, with his new found attention and affection for Peggy, that the idea even seemed plausible.  If Martha was pregnant, it would certainly answer some of the lingering questions about how far reaching the effects of the serum were, but he didn’t want those answers at the expense of their child.

“I’ve thought about that,” Martha confessed.  “How your medical history could potentially affect a child.”

“And?” Steve asked almost hesitantly.

“Happy and healthy would be preferable,” Martha told him without missing a beat.  “But I’m a doctor, so as long as they’re happy, I can handle the rest.”

Steve breathed a sigh of relief.  He closed his eyes and pulled her into his arms, no longer able to fight the urge to hold her.  “You’re a godsend, Martha Jones.”

Martha wrapped her arms loosely around his waist.  “You’re too kind.”

“No.”  Steve opened his eyes and placed a kiss on the crown of her head.  “You’re too modest.”

Martha lifted her head to look at him.  “I should go take the test, yea?”

Steve nodded slowly.  “Do you want me to…?”

Martha let out a mirthless laugh.  “I think I can manage having a wee on my own, Cap.”  Steve pulled back silently to let her go.  “I’ll just be a minute,” she added before heading off to the bathroom.

Steve paced while he waited and as soon as Martha returned, he pulled her into his arms once more.  They took a seat on the couch and Martha set the timer on her cellphone.  Afterwards, she practically curled up on his lap, seemingly desperate for the comfort of physical contact.  Steve was more than happy to oblige.

After what felt like an eternity, the alarm on Martha’s phone chimed, but she hesitated before moving.  When she did, it was only to lift her head and look him in the eyes.  “I’m scared,” she confessed.

“I know.”  Steve placed a kiss along her hairline and rubbed her back.  “But you don’t have to be,” he told her.  “If you’re not pregnant, then we’ll just have to make sure that we’re more careful in the future.  And if you are…well we’ll make a plan.”

Martha smiled weakly.  “You know you’re always going on about plans, but ninety percent of the time your plans consist of doing the most idiotically impulsive thing that comes to mind,” she teased.

“I wouldn’t say  _ninety_ percent.”

“No, I was being kind.  It’s more like 99.99%.”

Steve huffed playfully.  “I  _do_ make plans,” he insisted.  “It’s just something usually prevents me from sticking to them.”

“Like a baby,” she said softly as she moved to stand up.

“Hey.”  Steve held her back for a moment and looked her in the eyes.  “You’re not alone,” he reminded her.  “We’re in this together.”

Martha nodded.  “I know.”  She cupped his face and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips then stood up to go check the test results.

Steve managed to keep it together until Martha disappeared into the bathroom again, at which point he had a quiet freak-out.  He exhaled sharply and ran his hand through his hair.  In a matter of moments, their whole lives could change.  He could be a father.  He’d be lying if the idea alone didn’t make him nervous, but before he got caught up in the hysteria of what-ifs, he’d wait for Martha to return with the results.

A short while later, Martha came back with the pregnancy test wrapped in a tissue.  Steve took a preparatory deep breath and let it out slowly as he rose to his feet.  “Well?”

Martha looked up and just barely shook her head from side to side.  “I’m not pregnant.”

Steve walked over to her.  “Are you sure?”

“Yea.”  Martha nodded and showed him the test.  “One line means it’s negative,” she explained.  “I’ll probably schedule an appointment with my doctor just to be certain, but I think we’re in the clear.”

Steve placed his hands on her shoulders and massaged them gently.  “How do you feel?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted.  “I mean part of me is  _so_ relieved.  Our lives are hectic enough as it is and a baby just would complicate matters further, but…”  She sighed.

“You could already picture it,” he guessed.

Martha bit her bottom lip into submission and nodded quickly.  A few tears escaped her eyes, but she wiped them away just as soon as they appeared.  “Totally daft, yea?”  She exhaled sharply.  “How could we possibly have a baby with our lives?”

Steve cupped her face in his hands and dried her tears with his thumbs.  “I think you could do anything you put your mind to,” he insisted.  “Especially if we do it together.”

Martha stared into his eyes for a long while before speaking again.  “I want to have a baby with you, Steve,” she confessed.  “Not now.  Maybe not even soon, but one day.  I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Her words brought a smile to his face.  “How about we start with tonight?” he suggested.  “We can get takeout and watch a movie like we used to do.”

Martha sank into his arms again.  “That sounds perfect.”

Steve gave the crown of her head another kiss.  “You get cleaned up and pick a movie.  I’ll go get us something from the place around the corner.”

“Cheers,” Martha replied as they pulled apart.  “Oh and maybe some antacid as well while you’re out?” she added, rubbing her stomach again.

Steve nodded.  “Whatever you need.”  He gave her a parting kiss then left the apartment to get what they needed.  By the time he reached the street below, the full weight of the situation hit him.

A baby would have changed everything, but he wasn’t sure if it would have been for the worse.  Steve realized that Martha wasn’t the only one to allow thoughts of the future to slip in.  They hadn’t had a conversation about it yet, but Steve was more than sure that he wanted to spend the rest for his life with Martha too.

He came to the deli around the corner from her building, but Steve kept walking.  When he reached the drugstore down the street, it didn’t stop there either.  It wasn’t until he was a few blocks away and in front of a jewelry store that he paused.

Steve took a deep breath and walked inside.  Martha may not have needed a ring, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to give her one.


End file.
